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Do we have big load fans because we need to cool the motherboard or because we need to cool the processor (processors and video chips these days?) Don't modern processors require a lot of cooling because they throw off a lot of heat? In fact the faster and more powerful they get the more heat they throw off. I actually read a physics paper on the subject once. As I remember as late as the Pentium 60 you could get by without a cpu fan. As processors became more powerful loss of the fan quickly became more noticeable. Even now heat is the reason that laptops generally have less powerful processors than desktops. Today if your T-bird fan fails your probably going to lose the processor within minutes, if not seconds. Somebody (I should know but can't remember-Apple maybe) has built a computer in the shape of a cube with heat carefully vented to the center and up like a chimney. Such a design seems great for heat transfer, but I think at the cost of upgradability. Of course, laptops are wonderful for a lot of reasons including quiet dissipation of heat, but they have limited upgradability. Perhaps a breakthrough in materials technology will lead to cooler processing, but absent that I don't think we will do away with fans in any computer either of us would like to own anytime soon.
As to your other comments, I think they are all doable now and most make great sense. I especially like the idea of doing a way with multiple kinds of connectors. Why do we need serial, PS/2 and parallel ports, anyway? All are left overs from technology long gone. Thanks for starting this thread. I hope others will join in.
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